Wednesday, April 1, 2009

11 Student Actions that Sabotage Job/Internship Search Efforts

Here are eleven actions students take that doom their efforts to find jobs and internships. While MANY students succeed by assuming responsibility and taking consistent, well-thought out actions related to job search, the occurrence of these eleven actions is frequent enough to warrant my decision to share them here.1. Commiserating with classmates in person on how you can't find an internship or job (or using Facebook and Twitter for the same purposes).2. Expecting that stating "I need an internship/job" out loud to no one in particular will result in an offer.3. Working endlessly on your resume.4. Saying you don't know what you want, and not taking action to gain clarity.5. Blowing off opportunities to meet with alumni (and guest speakers sponsored by clubs and outside organizations) who are willing to share their career insight and leads to internships or jobs.6. Blowing off opportunities to meet with companies visiting campus for the express purpose of connecting with students to discuss internships or jobs.7. Writing cover letters for jobs that don't exist, and/or that are so general as to leave the reader uncertain as to their intention.8. Blowing off opportunities to practice interview skills or gain other insight and knowledge to help you in the search for an internship or job.9. Saying there's no time to look for an internship or job, when time is available to socialize, travel during spring break, etc.10. Criticizing services provided to help students find internships and jobs.11. Failing to reach out to people who care for and love you, who'd be willing to help you gain clarity and make connections -- as well as others who've pledged the same kind of support for your search process.Fortunately, each of these actions (or lack of action) is correctable. I've explored several in past posts, and will do so in the near future as well.

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A Little Bit About Me

I develop people. I bask in opportunities to help others to achieve their full potential.

I’m currently pursuing this passion as a Senior Lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School; the Northern California Director of the Institute of Advanced Advertising Studies; a developer of training programs on a broad range of communications and leadership skills; and an adjunct instructor at University of San Francisco.